NO LAUGHING MATTER

There is a need to take it seriously. Although humour offers us one way to take some power back in a world where many of us feel powerless, using humour to cope and horror, comedy may seem like an unlikely formula for success, some things really need to be said.

STYLE chats to comedian Ndosh in a one-on-one to get to know best which causes are closest to his. We found that the 16 days of activism is one of them as he touched on the topic, coupling it with humorous punch lines but his heart was in the right place.

1. What inspired you to do comedy?

So this one time, I was really broke and there was this competition that had a 5K grand prize, all you had to do was make people laugh, laugh they did my friend only this time they laughed at me for not getting the 5k. Up till this day I am trying to revenge, I have won a couple of disciples.

I’m a sore loser, so the whole inspiration comes in as a bittersweet story. My parents think they have contributed in the inspiration process, I don’t want to break their hearts on the national newspaper so I’ll just say, yes, my parents and whole family plus friends have tried to inspire me, mhhh, that wasn’t bad.

2. How has your comedy changed people’s lives, especially in regard to everyday wellness?
I have been actively involved with Kwakha Indvodza, an NGO that focuses on mentoring young males into well-developed species. Why did I even use that word? A couple of months ago we even had a radio show which had about 10 episodes aired on V.O.C FM, this programme highlighted issues such as sexual violation, gender-based violence and S.O.D.V. The young males had gone through rigorous training and actually came out as a gender champions; they went on to teach their peers at school on the importance of all these subjects to be well monitored.

I have worked with BRO, Unique Characters and Immerse, all these NGOs focus on the general stability of adolescents where mental health issues, gender-based violence and sexual reproductive health are a priority.

3. What has been your biggest highlight throughout your comedy career?

There’s been too many highlights I wish you caught them on Supersport Blitz. *He laughs* See what I did there?
Uhm but let me think, wait, this one; this one has to be the biggest highlight of my whole comedy career, helping my mother build a house. Comedy did that for me, all else follows.

4. Do you find comedy sustainable in Eswatini?

*He ponders for a bit* The question should be, will emaSwati make comedy sustainable, this is their thing, one empty seat means less units at one particular household, OK, maybe not one empty chair, but you get what I’m saying, we need to buy mayonnaise at the end of the day, tithe and spoil the bae. All these come in no particular order. So our fellow emaSwati will help us sustain this product.

5. Between money and being a great comedian, which comes first?
Whomst am I to lie, why would I lie, you know the answer, everyone else does, I’m not going to be humble and choose something that will not sustain me, look, this is obvious, give me greatness, all day every day, twice on Sunday. This is not diffusion and osmosis, yhi, I don’t know why I even said that.

6. Who is the craziest comedian that you’ve worked with?
Mdura, thinks its him and I think it shouldn’t be him anyways, Mdura. He’s more like a brother to me this one, actually, I am his brother. I also have this one friend called Busizwe, put him and Mdura inside a car and do a road trip trust me when I say those humans re-define crazy.

7. Out of 10, how funny do you think you are?
This one is obvious, too much, why do you even ask such questions, look at you.

8. What aspect about your life don’t people know?

It is that I am actually married. 
9. On gender based violence and the 16 days of activism are the campaigns against abuse really helping in combating abuse or it is one of those situations society use to window dress while not really doing anything about it?

Of course they are, if not we’re fetching our free T-shirts and free food. I say this because I usually work on these campaigns and I love them and know the processes involved when wanting to facilitate them.

10. In your own opinion, to what extent is the damage caused by these cases of abuse go on the moral self-esteem of the survivors?
This is not a laughing matter. There are long term implications and effects of this as it leaves them scarred for life and as a country we still have a long way to go in as far as therapy is concerned, we do have therapists but they are either unemployed and to those that are actually present are very expensive. Classic example, some victims will actually suppress their feelings while being abused, say they break up with the perpetrator, now they meet a much calmer human, not aggressive and kind.

The victim from the past abusive relationship will now displace all their anger, aggression and any other form of abuse to this human who has no clue about what is going on. This chain will go on and on until it’s a viscous cycle of survival.

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